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Based in Canada's Capital Region, Bent Up Good is a blues quartet on a mission to tease out fun, quirky and provocative creations, and celebrate a diverse array of old and new blues classics—spiced with some genre bending "hues."
Introduced in fall 2019, the quartet boasts three vocalists, who can't resist layering onto each other--all while locking down grooves that range from the soulful to the incendiary. For 2023, the band is poised to release new material that until recently, has only been accessible at live shows.
Bent Up Good is: Mark Vukas (vocals, guitars), Reg Clements (vocals, bass), Chris McGuire (vocals, keys) and Andy Sommerfeld (percussion, engine room).
Toronto’s first album, Lookin’ for Trouble, was released in 1980, and lead single “Even The Score” was a minor hit, just missing the Canadian Top 40. Head On (1981) followed, after which Costello and Fox left the band to be replaced by Gary LaLonde (later of Honeymoon Suite) and Barry Connors (later of Coney Hatch). The band was nominated for a Juno in 1981 for “Most Promising Group of the Year” along with Loverboy, Martha & the Muffins, Red Rider and Powder Blues Band (winner).
This sextet recorded Get It on Credit (1982), with lead single “Your Daddy Don’t Know” reaching top 5 in Canada, and hitting No. 77 in the US. It remains their best-known hit. “Your Daddy Don’t Know” was also nominated for a Juno Award in 1983 for Composer of the Year (the song was written by Geoff Iwamoto and Michael Roth). Lalonde was then replaced by Mike Gingrich for 1983’s Girls’ Night Out in 1983. This album also received attention, as did the band’s Greatest Hits album of 1984. In 1984, Holly Woods was nominated for a Juno for “Female Vocalist of the Year” along with Dalbello, Shari Ulrich and Anne Murray (winner).
There were subsequently several exits and entrances in 1984/85, with founding members Allen and Alton leaving, along with drummer Connors. They were replaced by Marty Walsh (guitars), Daryl Alvara (guitars) and Paul Hanna (drums), and the band rechristened themselves Holly Woods and Toronto. In 1985, the re-vamped sextet released their final album, Assault and Flattery. It featured the single “New Romance”, written by Holly Knight and Anton Fig.
In 1985, the band was forced into breaking up when Solid Gold Records filed for bankruptcy protection. Woods and Kreyer ended up relocating to Atlanta, where they went into Lowery Studios to record a solo album by Woods. However, the album was shelved for over 20 years, until Cyclone Records acquired the rights to the “lost” masters and released the album in 2007.
The band scored a handful of hit singles in their native Canada during the early 1980s, including “Your Daddy Don’t Know”, “Start Tellin’ the Truth”, and “Girls’ Night Out”. “Your Daddy Don’t Know” was covered by The New Pornographers for the 2003 film soundtrack “FUBAR: The Album”.
The song “What About Love” was originally recorded by Toronto during the “Get It on Credit” sessions, having been written by band members Alton and Allen along with outside collaborator Jim Vallance. However, the band elected not to release the song, and the frustration Allen and Alton faced in getting this and other material onto Toronto’s albums eventually led to their departure from the group. In 1985, the song was offered to Heart, who turned “What About Love” into an international top 10 hit. Toronto’s original version was eventually released in 2002 as a bonus track the CD reissues of several of their albums.
Harlequin was originally formed in the mid-seventies. After several demos and trips to Toronto, Harlequin was finally discovered playing in a tiny bar in Toronto by representatives of Jack Douglas, legendary producer of Aerosmith, Patti Smith and John Lennon. Ironically, the scouts for Douglas’ company had actually intended to see Goddo, the band playing downstairs, but were turned away due to a sold old show. Instead they retired upstairs to a much smaller bar – only to be blown away by the band, playing a high-energy set of strong original songs for only a handful of people. This chance meeting led to a production deal with Douglas.
With Douglas’ help, Harlequin signed a deal with CBS/Epic (home to Cheap Trick and Eddie Money) in 1979. The band proceeded to amaze everyone at the label by pushing the first release Victim of a Song (1979) to gold status through sheer hard work, incessant touring, word of mouth and solid song-writing. Songs like “Sweet Things In Life”, “You Are The Light” and “Survive” introduced the band to radio in many markets in Canada – especially Western Canada.
The second release, Love Crimes (1980), came with a bigger push from the label, and went on to go Platinum, powered in part by Harlequin’s biggest hit to date “Innocence”. Another track, “Thinking Of You”, became a staple of rock radio and a highlight of the live show.
One False Move (1982) cemented the band’s radio success with tunes like “I Did It For Love,” “Superstitious Feeling” and “Heart Gone Cold.” The fourth and final album, eponymously titled, featured a change of direction as well as producer – Alfie Agius, former bassist with The Fixx, replaced Jack Douglas. This album produced one single “Take This Heart” and the band’s only video, filmed at the abandoned Don jail in Toronto by Juno-winning Champagne Productions.
Harlequin was, and still remains, something of a work-horse of the Canadian road, soldiering through multiple grueling cross-Canada tours, and working with such bands as Triumph, Streetheart, Nazareth, Heart, April Wine, Pat Benatar and Saga. Saga took the band to Puerto Rico, where they discovered – to their shock and amazement – that “Innocence” had been a huge hit single. To capitalize on the song’s success, the band played in Caracas, Venezuela, headlining two nights at the city’s biggest arena. With Triumph, the band toured through the States and made some headway in the midwest and Texas.
The next album was the Radio Romances greatest hits package, which also featured a new tune (written by Tom Cochrane) entitled “No Mystery”.
“Waking the Jester” was released in 2007. It had two singles which touched every continent of the world, “Shine On” and “Rise”.
In 2009 the band released “On/Q” the first live compilation. Original singer, George Belanger, is proud to release the songs in the style and intent in which they were written and which he had always preferred. Songs representing the band from inception to 2009 are included.
Unlike many bands of their era, Harlequin is still a staple of rock radio in Canada, where the band’s old and new hits still receive remarkable amounts of airplay. Fueled by this continued success at radio, the band still tours, gaining new fans all the time, and attracting anyone who loves Canadian rock at its finest.
The band’s current line-up consists of George Belanger, Chris Burke-Gaffney, Derrick Gottfried, Gary Golden and AJ Chabidon.
Melissa Etheridge stormed onto the American rock scene in 1988 with the release of her critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, which led to an appearance on the 1989 Grammy Awards show. For several years, her popularity grew around such memorable originals as "Bring Me Some Water," "No Souvenirs" and "Ain't It Heavy," for which she won a Grammy® in 1992. Etheridge hit her commercial and artistic stride with her fourth album, Yes I Am (1993). The collection featured the massive hits, "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window," a searing song of longing that brought Etheridge her second Grammy® Award for Best Female Rock Performance. In 1995, Etheridge issued her highest charting album, Your Little Secret, which was distinguished by the hit single, "I Want to Come Over." Her astounding success that year led to Etheridge receiving the Songwriter of the Year honor at the ASCAP Pop Awards in 1996.
Known for her confessional lyrics and raspy, smoky vocals, Etheridge has remained one of America’s favorite female singer-songwriters for more than two decades. In February 2007, Melissa Etheridge celebrated a career milestone with a victory in the “Best Song” category at the Academy® Awards for “I Need to Wake Up,” written for the Al Gore documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth. As a performer and songwriter, Etheridge has shown herself to be an artist who has never allowed “inconvenient truths” to keep her down. Earlier in her recording career, Etheridge acknowledged her sexual orientation when it was considered less than prudent to do so. In October 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer, a health battle that, with her typical tenacity, she won. Despite losing her hair from chemotherapy, Etheridge appeared on the 2005 Grammy® telecast to sing “Piece of My Heart” in tribute to Janis Joplin. By doing so she gave hope to many women afflicted with the disease.
On October 7, 2016 Melissa Etheridge released Memphis Rock & Soul, her first album since 2014’s critically lauded This Is M.E. Recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis, the album received stellar reviews from the likes of Entertainment Weekly, Parade, Rolling Stone, American Songwriter and more. She followed that up with the release of The Medicine Show in April, 2019. For The Medicine Show, Melissa reunited with celebrated producer John Shanks and sounds as rousing as ever, bringing a new level of artistry to her 15th studio recording. The Medicine Show deals with universal themes of renewal, reconciliation, reckoning, compassion and, most profoundly, healing.
In June of 2020, Etheridge launched her own live streaming subscription and single ticket concert platform, Etheridge TV and has done over 200 live streams in 2020.
On September 17, 2021, Melissa released a new album called One Way Out. The 9-track album is a collection of songs Etheridge wrote in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s that never made the cut….until now! The time is finally right, and fans will finally get a deeper glimpse to who Melissa was then.
October 2022 saw Melissa’s return to the theatre with her one woman show, My Window – A Journey Through Life. The critically acclaimed, sold-out run premiered at New World Stages on October 13 and has plans to move to Broadway in 2023.
“I’m opening doors for you –walk through them.”
-Stevie Ray Vaughan.
From the prairies of Saskatchewan to sharing the stage with arguably the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time, Colin James still remembers those words of advice given to him by the late, great, Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Colin James has taken those words to heart. His career has spanned over 30 years, with a track record that includes 20 studio albums, 8 Juno Awards, 29 Maple Blues Awards and multi-platinum record sales. His latest 2021 release, Open Road, is a celebration of personal connections. It includes original tunes written with long time collaborators such as Colin Linden, Craig Northey and Tom Wilson and reinterpretations of covers by a diverse group of songwriters including Bob Dylan, Albert King, Tony Joe White and others.
His 2018 album Miles To Go garnered worldwide attention, debuting on the Billboard Blues Charts and holding a position on the RMR Blues Chart for 24 weeks, 14 weeks in the top 10. He continues to sell out shows across Canada with over 80,000 tickets sold on tours over the past 3 years. Colin was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2013.
Looking back over Colin’s career, it’s a timeline rich in highlights. His 1988 self-titled debut, featuring his two self-penned hits “Voodoo Thing” and “Five Long Years,” was the fastest-
selling album in Canadian history. It won him his first Juno and an opening spot on tour with Keith Richards. His second album, Sudden Stop, featured his hit “Just Came Back,” which reached #3 on the U.S. radio charts and earned him the Juno Award for “Single of the Year.” Colin was next credited with launching the swing revival, thanks to his wildly popular Little Big Band, which has released four successful albums to date.
However, it wasn’t until 2016’s Blue Highways that James found himself on a blues chart: the album spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Roots Music Report’s Blues Chart. It also landed him one of his biggest hits: “Riding in the Moonlight,” a Willie Dixon song that garnered millions of streams on Spotify.
Over the years Colin has worked with some of the world’s most revered artists including, Bonnie Raitt, Albert Collins, Pops Staples, Robert Cray, Albert King, Keith Richards, Lenny Kravitz, ZZ Top, Mavis Staples, Luther Allison, Roomful of Blues, Bobby King and Terry Evans, John Hammond Jr., The Chieftains, Carlos Santana, Little Feat, Johnny Hallyday, Jeff Healey, and Buddy Guy. In addition to his own recording and touring Colin is a prolific songwriter, his music has been recorded by the likes of Maria Muldaur, Johnny Hallyday and Lucinda Williams.
Colin has set the bar for consistency and talent in Canadian music and even after 20 acclaimed albums remains at the top of his game, always challenging himself musically. A consummate professional and a superb guitarist, Colin is a musician’s, musician. The confidence that comes with maturity can be heard in his voice and seen in his electrifying stage performance. He does what comes naturally – he always has – he knows no other way and no other life.
Leah Marlene is a songwriter, artist, and producer with a deeply rooted desire to create art unlike anything you have heard before. With a unique, engaging voice and a songwriting style that combines elements of folk, rock, pop, soul, funk, jazz and more, she cannot be put into a box.
Leah grew up in a house full of music and guitars as her father, Derry Grehan, is a songwriter and lead guitarist with the Canadian band, Honeymoon Suite. He passed along his knowledge and passion for writing and performing. Leah began singing and writing her own songs at a very young age and never looked back! She has been performing professionally since the age of ten and releasing music since she was thirteen.
After graduating high school, Leah spent two years studying songwriting at Belmont University in Nashville. She then returned back to the midwest to produce her most recent album, “Many Colors.”
Now twenty-one years old, Leah most recently came off an incredible run on season 20 of American Idol, where she released her latest original single, "Flowers" and placed second runner up of the season!
Leah is a lover of people and her greatest hope is that her music may meet you exactly where you are at and help you feel whatever it is you need to feel in a given moment.
Kevin and Vanessa Head are Head over Heels, an acoustic guitar/vocal duo from the Kingston, Ontario area. Veteran singer-songwriter-guitarist Kevin and his wife vocalist Vanessa, perform a diverse mix of Kevin's original music and interpretive covers of Roots, Jazz, Classic Rock and Contemporary tunes. Their musicianship, harmonies and playful onstage rapport has endeared them to many audiences in Eastern Ontario.
They've entertained audiences on VIA Rail, and at several festivals in the area over the years, including the Limestone City Blues Festival in 2018 and 2019, the 2018 Kemptville Live Music festival, and 2020's Kemptville Live at the Library.
Robb Kerr is an amazing Canadian singer, songwriter and recording artist from Ottawa, Ontario.
When it comes to performance, Robb brings it every time. From the moment he takes the stage, you can feel the shift of energy in the air. His low heartfelt raspy vocal has a pleasant haunting to it, and the timbre of his voice will get stuck in your head making you want to listen again and again. Think Jeff Martin from the Tea Party, Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, or even Tom Petty’s Last Dance with Mary Jane. Robb has character when he sings, and you can hear his heart bleeding with passion in every phrase. Robb has a raw, earthy approach to telling stories of every day life in a very unassuming manner.
Robb’s honest approach and eclectic lyric writing is refreshing to hear. With captivating melodies and long held gravelly notes you will find yourself not just hearing what he’s doing, but feeling it from the inside out.